Finding the Balance: U.S. Military and Future Operations [Enlarged Edition]

This monograph examines the U.S. Military's struggle to find the correct balance between conventional and counterinsurgency/stability approaches. The author uses history to remind us that at the end of wars, Armies often "throw the baby out with the bathwater" and revert to a default position for organization and doctrine instead of inculcating those lessons learned in the recent wars. History shows us that we do not maintain capabilities and capacity to conduct operations in complex environments. Professor Flavin uses Frank Hoffman's four schools of thought (counterinsurgents, traditionalists, utility infielders and division of labor) and shows where the U.S. has been and may be headed in the future.